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Background

The plaintiffs brought the action without lawyers and did not pay the filing fees. The court explained that starting a civil action required payment of $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Alternatively, each plaintiff could request permission to proceed without paying fees in advance by submitting a signed application.

Yariel D. Brown was the only plaintiff who submitted an application, but it was blank and did not show an inability to pay. Coco III and Zaza did not submit applications. The court also determined that Coco III and Zaza had to provide original signatures because the complaint’s papers must be personally signed by an unrepresented party.

Order

The court gave the plaintiffs 30 days from the date of the order to either pay the $402 in fees or have each plaintiff complete, sign, and submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. Any application had to identify docket number 22-CV-7137 (LTS) and include facts showing that the applicant could not pay. If the court granted the applications, the plaintiffs could proceed without prepaying fees.

The court separately directed Coco III and Zaza to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with original signatures within 30 days. No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if the plaintiffs complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if any plaintiff failed to comply within the allowed period, the court would dismiss that plaintiff’s claims.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order directed payment of fees or applications and original signatures; it did not itself dismiss the action.